How Long?

Back in May, I joined a group of 8^th graders on a tour of Washington, DC. Among the memorials, monuments and museums were the grave markers of Arlington Cemetery. It’s impressive and humbling to look at the rows of white, and, then even more so, to look closer at the names – some we know (by fame or family) and many we have never met.

War is a word we learn at a young age. Some of you are or know veterans of our nation’s conflicts abroad. Still others serve in their home country, but are away from spouses and families. The multiple deployments and training demands take their toll on the resiliency of our forces. King David’s lament in Psalm 6 could easily come from the lips of any soldier, sailor, airman, marine or coast guardsman: “How Long? How Long, O LORD?”

When our children ask that question, it’s a matter of impatience. They are just too antsy to wait: for Christmas, for sleeping over at Grandma’s, or for their tooth to fall out. For many, in more serious situations, it’s a matter of desperation. It’s an anxious time of not knowing. “How Long, O LORD?” And, in those situations, we really want it to be done and over with right now!

King David, a warrior who led many military campaigns, isn’t the only one who ever asks this question. And, when David cries out, he isn’t just a little bit annoyed with something. He’s not swatting mosquitoes while grilling a steak and drinking a beer over Memorial Day Weekend. He’s in outright anguish and agony as he waits for God to deliver him. What he knows is that he can’t make it better on his own. He can’t get away from it. He’s desperate for God to make things right.

Our military men and women today ask likewise. Deployments are lengthy. Our troops feel alone, surrounded by other lonely people. I can only imagine the weariness that battle-readiness might cause, as the daily search for strength to go on brings despair instead.

The Bible says that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual realm. That’s true, but I firmly believe that when we are worn down in one, we are more susceptible in the other.

How does God respond? When we cry out to Him on the battle field in a foreign land, or in our living room locking horns with our teenagers, we want to know how long this is going to go on! How does God respond?

He responds as He always has - He actually speaks. Sometimes, through a military chaplain or pastor, but often through a friend. The words remind us of a hope we can find – not in ourselves and in our conquests, but in Christ and His Spirit who give strength when our strength fails. When our flesh is weak and our blood is shed, it’s Christ’s shed blood and Christ’s risen body that give us hope!

If the message of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death is a good one for us, it’s an excellent one for those who are willing to sacrifice for others – to know that Jesus Himself has been in battle, has been alone, and has conquered what many fear most.

“How long, O Lord?” isn’t always a waiting forever question.

Whether we are soldiers or citizens of this country, we have no intentions of a forever existence here. We ask “how long” and we do our duty for God and country, but we really long for the day when we are no longer waiting for the next thing: not a new tour of duty, not the next expedition, not even Friday night when the whistle blows. We wait, sometimes patiently, for Christ to make His long-awaited return in glory.

And that, too, will be a day of battle. Christ’s final defeat of the evil in the spiritual realm, and our deliverance from death. Our bodies raised to new life. Our image, restored – for “how long?” Dear child of God, it will be forever and ever, in the perfect peace of Christ’s nearer presence.